Behind the Music Doc: 'Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton'

Created in 1996 by Chris Manak (aka DJ Peanut
Butter Wolf), Stones Throw Records has cemented its reputation as an eclectic
and influential indie record label, with a roster of acts such as hip-hop
artists Madlib, Homeboy Sandman, and the late J Dilla, to soul crooners Mayer
Hawthorne and modern-day funk musician Dam-Funk. Nearly 20 years later, Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton (This Is Stones Throw
Records) tells its story.

Produced and directed by Jeff Broadway, Los
Angeles-based filmmaker and co-founder of Gatling Pictures, the music
documentary showcases the culture, energy, and history behind a label that
started out releasing mainly hip-hop records but has morphed into a hotbed of
electro, soul, and world music deals.

With exclusive interviews by Peanut Butter Wolf, as
well as fellow DJ A-Trak, and noted stars such as Talib Kweli, Common, Kanye
West, Mike D and Questlove, Our Vinyl
Weighs a Ton highlights the independent spirit and creative aesthetic of the
respected indie label.

Get In Media: With so
many independent record labels out there, why a documentary about Stones Throw?
What drew you to tell their story?

Jeff
Broadway: I live in LA and I’ve been here for about five years. With
documentary production the margins are relatively small. And I thought it would
be a wise move to do something on a subject that’s local. It’s also something
that I’ve been a part of, at least peripherally as a fan, for some years. It’s
a subject and a culture that I understand. I also felt like there was a demand
from the fan base to learn more about it.

[Stones Throw] has been a relatively closeted and closed off
label for some years prior to the documentary. Guys like Madlib and Doom, even
Dilla, there hadn’t been a lot done of that collective of artists. And it’s
been a collective that I’ve admired and appreciated as a fan for some years. So
for those kind of myriad of factors, it just felt like a natural project for me
to take on.

GIM: Where do
you begin to piece together nearly 20 years of music history? How do you even
start?

JB: It’s
obviously a pretty large undertaking. I think that we started out mapping out
stories based on the central figures and who have been the driving forces in
comprising this collective of artists at Stones Throw. And really identifying
those major figures and then kind of understanding which people, and which
interviews, and which archival material would best serve telling those
sub-narratives. And so really kind of attacking the story by its breakdown and
just understanding what has made this clock tick for all these years. And then
going after material, original production footage and interviews, and all that
stuff that helps flesh out those storylines and those tangents that make up the
larger, more holistic story.

GIM: Now
that the film is complete, what’s the one thing you wish you’d known then that
you know now?

JB: Becauseit wasn’t my first project, I feel
like my first film [Cure For Pain: The
Mark Sandman Story] I learned a lot of big lessons. But as far as [this
one]… I think that there are
things … not to pat myself on the back, but I think there are things that I
did on the onset that were very wise.

Like, for example, getting involved in a project like this that’s
so music-driven, you have to understand what’s available to you. And you have
to kind of set those terms in advance before you take the plunge. Like, I got
Stones Throw to submit to clearing all that music for me, and I basically had an
open vault. I think that’s crucial, especially with a music documentary; one
like Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton where
it’s so reliant upon that. That was like a clearance point that I had to make
sure I did my due diligence on before I got involved in making the film.

Because if I had just started using music and like cutting
some music, then gone back and said “Oh hey, by the way, there’s 60 music
clips” … like who’s paying for that? You really got to make sure that all
your boxes are checked from a business and production standpoint before you
decide to take the plunge.

That wasn’t so much a lesson I learned, but that’s a lesson I
learned on my first project, which is also a music documentary. And one that I
implemented in making Our Vinyl Weighs a
Ton. But I think that that is very prudent advice.

GIM: What
advice would you give to up-and-coming documentary filmmakers?

JB: If you
have the talent and you have a great story and you have a great subject, and
your subject’s willingness is there to participate and help you flesh out your
vision, and you can raise some tens of thousands of dollars … and you have a
DSLR and you have a computer, and you can figure out how to pirate software or
whatever, you can make a feature-length movie. Yeah, it’s a documentary, but
for not a lot of money. And not to say that that’s impossible in feature
filmmaking, but it’s just a totally different undertaking.

I see documentary filmmaking as being more of like if you can
compare it to sports. It’s more of like tennis. Whereas making a feature is
like playing football. Like you have dozens of players that you have to
orchestrate and who you have to direct on the field is your quarterback. With
tennis, it’s like if you’re good, you’re good, you’re going to win. It’s a
sport that falls squarely on your own shoulders. And I feel like documentaries
are similar to that.

Yeah, you definitely need a team. But it’s far different from
the team you have to have in place and the money you have in place to actually
support executing a script in a feature film.

GIM: What was one of the
best things about making Our Vinyl Weighs
a Ton?

JB: It’s a
great feeling to just have a film released and to see it succeed. And to see
the other access points that open up and doors that open up. I think that if
you can get a successful film on the books … I think that a lot of young
people think that if they like do one thing and it’s really good that their door
is just going to be blow down with opportunities and people wanting to rep and
manage them. That’s not really the case.

But I think that one of the coolest things to come from this is
more opportunity. I feel lifelong friendships with Wolf, and Dam-Funk and I are
collaborating on something right now. I’m doing a music video with Homeboy
Sandman and Krondon. So it kind of opened up a new world of artistic freedom
and collaboration in different capacities, so I’m excited about that.

GIM: You
said you’re working with Dam Funk and Homeboy Sandman?

JB: Dam
and I working on a feature together, actually, that would kind of be in the
vein of Purple Rain and Superfly. So that’s coming along and I’m
pumped about that. Homebody Sandman and I are shooting a video out in Joshua
Tree in a few weeks, which should be really rad. And I’m going on the road with
Daptone Records, which is home to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and Charles
Bradley. I’m doing a tour and live concert documentary for Daptone. So I’m excited.

Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton: This Is Stones
Throw Records is available digitally everywhere.